Posted on January 21, 2012 by Chris Baynham-Hughes
January and December have not only been frustrating running wise, but they have also been nerve wracking! “Why?” I hear you ask, well “postal entries” is the answer!
My original plan was to kick on from the Brecon Ultra and take on a series of long races. I’d already entered the Hardmoor 55, but I also had the extremely popular Edale Skyline and the Fellsman which just happens to be in it’s 50th year and has been put on the UK ultra running championships list for 2012. These are all set to go ahead before my BGR attempt. I’ll sneak in the Welsh 1000m after that and ultimately all this will hopefully put me in good shape for the DBR start line.
Postal entries are terrible, I’ve never trusted the postal system 100% as I’ve had letters lost on more than one occasion. There are just too many things to go wrong. I’ve spent the past couple of weeks checking the bank account to see if the cheque has gone out. In the mean time the Fellsman also opened up their online entries so I feared that there would be no places left by the time my postal entry had arrived or by the time I found out that it hadn’t arrived!
Thankfully however I have had confirmation this week that I have a place on all of the afore mentioned races. I’ve sent off the notification of intent to run the Bob Graham along with Martin Wilcock and Sam Robson (another postal thing). Now all I’ve got to do is sign up for the Brecon Ultra (another popular sell out race) to finish off my year… okay, so there is also talk of the Snowdon marathon too, but that’s by the by
Also some great news for one of my fellow ultra runners Sam as he has got into one of the toughest races in Europe, the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB). Living in Cambridge I think the 9,500 metres of ascent will be an interesting experience! The course profile is savage and at 166km (103 miles) the distance isn’t exactly easy going either!
The UTMB is a very popular race and it is down to a lottery to get in. First you have to qualify to show that you are capable of taking on the challenge and then it’s an application and a nervous wait. Anybody that loves mountains should check out the trailer for the event itself here. Got to say, it looks incredible and given that the atmosphere is meant to be second to none I think it has to go on the wish list! The video shows the scale of the event with enormous crowds at the start, but what it doesn’t show is the people out with the cowbells hailing you as heroes as you pass through their mountain villages along the way. Sam also writes a far more entertaining blog than I ever will you can find himhere. Congratulations Sam!
I’ll finish this post with the stats for the races I have entered:
| Race | Date | Distance | Ascent | Terrain | Link |
| Hardmoor 55 | 17th March | 55 Miles | 2700m/ 8858ft | Moorland and rough trails | Link |
| Edale Skyline | 25th March | 21.1 Miles | 1373m / 4505ft | Fells | Link |
| The Fellsman | 28/29th April | 61 miles | 3350m/ 11,000ft | Moorland fells | Link |
| Bob Graham Round | 31st May/ 1st June | 65.9 miles | 8534m / 27998ft | Fells | Link |
| Welsh 1000m Peaks | 9th June | 19.9 miles | 2440m / 8005ft | Fells | Link |
| Dragons Back | 02-07th Sept | 200 miles | 13716m/ 45000ft | Fells & rough mountain trails | Link |
| Total | 422.9 Miles | 32113m/ 105358ft |
UltraCBH 